CHALENGES & OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIAN TOURISM

Potential for the travel and tourism industry in India is enormous. However, at the same time, the industry faces numerous challenges, of which the most

critical is lack of proper infrastructure.

Various challenges/issues faced by the domestic travel and tourism industry in India:

• Lack of proper infrastructure• Human resources• Service levels• Lack of adequate marketing and promotion• Taxation• Security• Regulatory issues

CHALLENGES

Infrastructure needs for the travel and tourism industry range from physical infrastructure such as ports of entry to modes of transport to urban infrastructure such as access roads, electricity, water supply, sewerage and telecommunication. The sectors related to the travel and tourism industry include airlines, surface transport, accommodation (hotels), and infrastructure and facilitation systems, among others.

LACK OF PROPER INFRASTRUCTURE

To harness India’s tourism potential, several efforts are being taken for opening new destinations and exploring niche segments. However, infrastructure facilities such as air, rail, road connectivity, and hospitality services at these destinations and the connecting cities are inadequate. This remains a major hurdle for development of tourism.

ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY

Aviation infrastructure is also critical since it is a major mode of entry for inbound tourism. Passenger traffic is expected to increase in the coming years; however infrastructure facilities at airports are cause for concern. Expansion and development of airports at major gateway cities is underway to cater to the increasing passenger traffic.

CONTD......

Amenities available at various tourist locations and en route need to be improved. These include basic amenities such as drinking water, well maintained and clean waiting rooms and toilets, first aid and wayside amenities (to meet the requirement of the tourists travelling to tourist destinations) such as lounge, cafeteria, and parking facilities, among others.

AMENITIES

Availability of skilled manpower is a major challenge faced by the travel and tourism industry, one of the largest employment generators in the country. To sustain growth in the travel and tourism industry, trained manpower/ workforce is required at every level — managerial, supervisory, skilled or semi-skilled. Challenges faced at each level are different.

HUMAN RESOURCE

At mid and senior management levels, the industry faces talent crunch and at the front-line staff level, although human resources are adequate, a boom in other service industries such as banking, retail, airline and BPO have resulted in shortage of manpower at this level for the travel and tourism industry. Thus, we have a demand-supply mismatch with respect to manpower in the travel & tourism and hospitality sector in India .

CONTD.......

In addition to tour operators and hotel staff, tourists interact with persons from different backgrounds, occupations and experience. Such people include staff at bus/railway station, immigration staff at airports, taxi/coach operators, ticketing/ travel agencies, small hotels, dhabas/roadside eateries, staff at heritage sites, and tour guides, among others.

SERVICE LEVEL

The government has taken initiatives to promote responsible tourism by sensitising key stakeholders of the tourism industry through training and orientation, to develop a sense of responsibility towards tourists and inspire confidence of foreign tourists in India as a preferred destination. One such major initiative is the “Atithi Devo Bhava” campaign. More such efforts are required to improve the degree of service across various operators.

CONTD.......

Marketing and promotion of India as a major tourist destination is critical for the industry to achieve its potential. Lack of adequate budgetary support for promotion and marketing, compared with competing tourist destinations, is a major reason for India lagging behind as a tourist destination. Marketing under the “Incredible India” campaign helped place India as a good tourist destination on the global tourism map.

MARKETING AND PROMOTION

Indian tourism products are promoted primarily by the Ministry of Tourism with the involvement of state governments through the State Tourism Development Corporations. Newer tourism concepts, which include cruise tourism, adventure tourism, agri tourism or rural tourism, are emerging in India and these require support to develop and flourish.

CONTD........

Hence, greater marketing push for these different products is required. To remain competitive in the fiercely competitive field, India needs to change its traditional marketing approach to a more competitive and modern approach. There is a need to develop a unique market position and the brand positioning statement should capture the essence of the country’s tourism products: i.e., they should be able to convey an image of the product.

CONTD........

Travel and tourism in India is a high-taxed industry, which makes India expensive as a tourist destination. This is affecting the growth of the industry in India and India is losing out to other low-cost destinations. Inbound tourism is the one most affected. Various taxes are levied across the entire industry right from tour operators, transporters, airline industry to hotels and these tax rates tend to vary across different states in the country.

TAXATION

Security has been a major problem as well for growth of tourism for a number of years. Terrorist attacks or political unrest in different parts of the country have adversely affected sentiments of foreign tourists, the government needs to take a proactive approach in addressing these issues and in averting the potential impact on the industry.

SECURITY

Cyber crime is another major challenge the travel industry faces. Use of Internet in the travel and tourism industry has increased rapidly in recent years and has emerged as one of major segments for online spends ,the industry needs to take measures to make the process of online bookings more secure and transparent and also needs to create awareness regarding this.

CONTD......

For inbound international tourists, visa procedures are seen as a hindrance. A number of countries competing with India for tourists provide visa on arrival. India should provide visa on arrival for more countries or for certain categories of tourists for a specific duration.

REGULATORY ISSUES

A number of projects in the tourism infrastructure segment and in the hotels industry are delayed due to non-attainment of licenses and approvals on time. The government recently cleared the long-standing proposal for single window clearance for hotel projects to hasten the process of infrastructure development. Implementation of this proposal would help development of tourism and hospitality infrastructure in the country.

CONTD......

India’s size and massive natural, geographic, cultural and artistic diversity offers enormous opportunities for the travel and tourism industry. The promotion and aggressive marketing measures undertaken by the government is expected to aid influx of tourists. The industry would also benefit from introduction of new forms of tourism and development of niche segments.

OPPORTUNITIES

Medical tourism in India has gained considerable popularity in recent years. India has a major cost advantage in this field compared with other countries. In addition to cost advantages, Indian healthcare industry offers state-of-theart equipment, technological advancement, qualified and experienced medical personnel and a blend of modern and traditional medicines. Thus, medical tourism has immense potential in India.

MEDICAL TOURISM

Opportunities also exist in ecotourism, adventure tourism, and cruise tourism. Eco-tourism is increasing in popularity, evident in the development of eco-friendly hotels and tour packages. With increasing environment awareness and consciousness among tourists and given efforts undertaken by the government and private players, the ecotourism segment is expected to record handsome growth in the coming years.

CONTD......

India holds immense potential in adventure and cruise tourism. India’s greatest adventure tourism assets are Himalayas and its mighty rivers. The peak period for adventure tourism is the “lean period” of cultural tourism. Development of adventure tourism can make India a round-the-year tourist destination. The cruise industry is one of the most promising industries in India. However, strong efforts need to be made to develop this industry. Other forms of tourism such as agri tourism, pilgrimage tourism, heritage tourism, and MICE tourism also hold enormous potential.

Healthy economic growth recorded in past few years, especially in the services industry, has led to increase in business travel. Higher disposable income and affordability have increased domestic leisure travel in India.India is expected to witness increased tourist activity both in the business and leisure segments in the coming years. International inbound traffic is expected to grow rapidly with increasing investment and trade activity.

PROSPECTS

SUMIT BHATT

“ THANK YOU ”